Welcome to Mastersingers USA
Mastersingers USA is an established, dynamic, award-winning men’s ensemble.
History
Mastersingers USA is an established, dynamic, award-winning men’s ensemble. The group was founded in 1995 and since then has represented excellent choral singing as recognized in several European tours and domestic concerts. Mastersingers USA has been invited to participate in choral festivals at home and abroad and in 2003 won the World Prize for Men’s Chorus at the prestigious Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales. Mastersingers USA’s repertoire encompasses the best music written for men’s voices including Renaissance motets and Masses, foreign folksongs, American folksongs and spirituals, as well as popular contemporary offerings.
Members
Its members come from across the United States. These singers have sung in fine collegiate and community choruses, as well as a cappella groups. MUSA’s membership includes singers of all ages, of varying professions, and from throughout the United States.
Concerts
Mastersingers USA gathers once each year either in an American city for a long weekend of rehearsing and performing, or, every few years, for a 10 day to two week European concert tour. The two most recent tours took the group in 2019 to France and performances in Chartres and Rouen Cathedral, as well as in La Madeleine in Paris. During the summer of 2025, the group played to appreciative audiences throughout Austria including at the Cathedral of Salzburg, Bad Ischl, and in Peterskirche, Karlskirche, and Stefansdom in Vienna.
Concert preparation
Thanks to the commitment of its members, Mastersingers USA distributes music well in advance, provide on-line learning aids, convene occasionally remotely, and come together ready to put finishing touches on a familiar repertoire. With one or two days of intensive, in-person rehearsing, the group is ready for performances.
New members
Mastersingers USA is a performing ensemble of 40-80 singers. Over the years more than 120 different men have participated in our joyful work. New members are always welcome. Anyone interested should contact the music director who will be able to assess possible membership. While there is a nominal fee to participate, there also is ample financial aid in order to support members who may not be able to afford the cost.
Music Director
Kerry P. Brennan is the Music Director. An experienced, celebrated conductor, especially of men’s choruses, Brennan has been part of Mastersingers USA’s leadership since its founding. Most recently, he served for twenty years as Headmaster of Boston’s Roxbury Latin School. Prior to that he was Headmaster of New York City’s Collegiate School as well as a principal at Cleveland’s University School. At each of these schools, Brennan conducted celebrated choral ensembles. A magna cum laude graduate of Amherst College with majors in music and political science, he was named a Klingenstein Fellow at Columbia University’s Teachers College from which he received an MA in philosophy and education. Brennan was the acting director of the Amherst College Glee Club as well as the founder and director of the Amherst College Chorus. He was an assistant dean of the Harvard Summer School. Widely appreciated as an educational leader, Brennan has served as the Chairman of the International Boys’ Schools Coalition and president of the Heads and Principals Association. He is founder and director of The Sly Voxes, a 14-man Boston a cappella group and has composed or arranged numerous choral pieces.
